A Look at the Remaining Trade and FA Options for the Eagles Offense

The Eagles off-season is well under way and the plan so far has been obvious, retool the defense and get younger on offense. It’s clear the Eagles want to get guys that will grow with Carson Wentz through the years. “Carson and the Kids” as John Clark said time and time again.

Below are some names that have been linked to the Eagles throughout the offseason.

Brandin Cooks: The Eagles have interest in Brandin Cooks since the 2014 NFL Draft, where the Saints traded up two selections over the Eagles to take him (The Eagles ended up with Marcus Smith in that draft, sorry). It also came out that the Eagles tried to trade Malcolm Jenkins to the Saints for Cooks before the Patriots came in to close the deal. Both nuggets are according to Adam Caplan. Anyway, back to reality, trading for Brandin Cooks will not happen if he doesn’t agree to re-do his deal. The Eagles are not taking on that cap hit. If he agrees to re-work, his deal the Eagles would without a doubt be interested in making a deal. As a reference the Eagles have done this the last two off-seasons with trades (DeSean Jackson and Darius Slay). The previous two times he was dealt a first-round pick was involved. That won’t be the case here, and Peter King came on 94 WIP earlier this week saying the Eagles would even be reluctant to deal the 53rd pick in the draft for Cooks. I could see the Eagles picking up talks with the Rams after the draft to include a conditional 2021 third round pick that turns into a second-round pick if Cooks plays a certain amount of snaps. Cooks has been on the most productive wide receivers since he entered the league, and he has stayed healthy other than with the concussion issue. Concussions are a freak thing however, and you can’t anticipate them ever happening as we fell victim to it in the playoffs last year when Carson Wentz went down. Brandin Cooks is one hit anyway from his career being over just like most of the players in the NFL. Not wanting to trade for Cooks because he has had a few too many concussions the last few seasons should not be the main reason. You also may be asking why the Rams wouldn’t just re-work Cooks’s deal. The answer is simple, the Rams have to pay Jalen Ramsey, Cooper Kupp and others plus they have limited draft capital. Trading Cooks, getting rid of his contract and acquiring draft picks for him is something they should consider.

Odell Beckham Jr.: Imagine the Eagles having a receiver like OBJ. It would cost the Eagles a first round pick, plus (which I would do for the record) which doesn’t sound like a lot, but the Eagles won’t be doing that.

Dante Pettis: Pettis is 24 and he won’t turn 25 until late October. Pettis ran a 4.37 40-yard dash in the 2018 combine. He’s been a massive disappointment, there’s no doubt about it, but he showed flashes in his rookie year. That same year, new Eagles senior offensive assistant Rich Scangarello was the quarterback coach in that offense. The 49ers need receivers mostly because of their miss on Pettis who they traded up for in the second round of the 2018 draft. 49ers heading coach Kyle Shanahan didn’t speak highly of Pettis last November after a loss to the Seahawks. Pettis still has two years on his rookie deal left so he would be cheap on the cap. The Eagles have been shopping Rasul Douglas who could also help the 49ers with their depth at cornerback. Rasul Douglas for Dante Pettis could be a possible deal that should intrigue the Eagles. Pettis could grow around Wentz on his fresh start with a new team.

Marvin Jones: Jones is set to be a free agent at the end of the year and he just turned 30. It wouldn’t cost the Eagles much more than probably a third-round pick to get him off the Lions books. The Lions want to win it sounds like so selling off any more parts off their team doesn’t really make sense. Jones’s cap hit if traded will be just $6,500,000 which is reasonable for an outside receiver that can give you 60 yards a game and score around 9 touchdowns in a season.

John Ross: I keep on thinking that John Ross is this super young guy that just needs to mature and get healthy. That really isn’t the case. John Ross is only a year younger than Brandin Cooks… think about that. Ross certainly would be a good guy to target if it were for a day three pick or a conditional 2021 pick because of the speed he would add.

Marquise Goodwin: Another 49ers receiver that the Eagles should show interest in. Goodwin is essentially a one trick pony being a deep threat, but the Eagles need to add speed to the offense. If they use their first-round pick on Justin Jefferson, as many are projecting, that will help but it won’t be adding speed. Justin Jefferson is a possession slot receiver with the ability to make contested catches and get yards after the catch. Jefferson will be productive but for the Eagles offense to flash speed will need to be added. While DeSean Jackson will be on the team in 2020 he can’t be trusted to play a full season clearly. Adding Goodwin will give the Eagles another deep threat. With the rosters being expanded to 55, adding a backup receiver that doesn’t play special teams can be done. Goodwin is also under contract for two more seasons but can easily be released next year with no massive casualties. Trading for him won’t cost the Eagles much, it’s also possible the 49ers just cut him.

Taylor Gabriel: The Bears cut Gabriel earlier this off-season to save cap space. Gabriel is a twitchy slot receiver at the height of 5’7″. He turned 29 in February, so he isn’t exactly what the Eagles are looking for being a guy to stay here for the next window. If the Eagles let’s say draft Denzel Mims or trade up for Ceedee Lamb, Henry Ruggs or Jerry Jeudy they will need to add another receiver that is cheap. Gabriel can be the stop gap slot receiver. Signing Gabriel would have to come after the draft.

Paul Richardson: If things don’t go as planned, I’d have interest bringing in Richardson. Just two years ago Richardson was the hot name being talked about when he hit the market. He got hit with the injury bug and was stuck playing with Colt McCoy, John Johnson, Marc Sanchez, Alex Smith, Dwayne Haskins and Case Keenum while in Washington (really Maryland). Buying low on Richardson to be WR4/5 would be some to think about.

Zay Jones: Heading into the 2017 draft there wasn’t a bigger Zay Jones fan than me. Things didn’t pan out in Buffalo or Oakland. Bringing in Zay to at least compete to make the team would be something intriguing. He got traded for a 2021 fifth-round pick last year. I’d wait for him to be cut which is likely by the Raiders.

Mike Williams: This one is a tad more interesting. Might not happen this off-season but next year it’s possible we see Mike Williams moved. The reason he’s brought up here is because the Chargers seem to be rebuilding their roster. To get Williams it would probably take a first round pick, not sure a team would be willing to do that.

Auden Tate: Don’t think Tate would be the best fit for the Eagles being that Tate’s speed is minimum. Tate was also one of the only bright spots for the Bengals last year. They should keep him considering he’s got two years left on his rookie deal.

Curtis Samuel: Certainly, an intriguing player who is young, but on the last year of his deal. I don’t see the Panthers wanting to move on from Samuel but a new coaching staff in the NFL means that rosters are due to change. Don’t see this happening though.

Corey Davis: Don’t see a scenario that the titans would trade Davis. Like Mike Williams, this will cost a first round pick and no team will do that.

Kenny Golladay: Stop, the Lions are not going to trade him.

DJ Moore: This is not happening.

JuJu Smith-Schuster: It would take a first round pick and I don’t think that’s worth it. Plus, the Steelers probably want to see what the offense will look like with everyone healthy.

Josh Gordon: Had to put him on here. I know it won’t happen, but I will forever be calling for him to be an Eagle from the raptors.

LeSean McCoy: Torn on this decision. I have wanted to see the Eagles bring back LeSean since Chip Kelly traded him in 2015. The Eagles do need a backup running back so there is a role LeSean could play. Two concerns are (1) he was benched (and when I mean benched, he wasn’t even active for the Chiefs during their Super Bowl run) so how much gas does he have left in the tank? (2) The Eagles need a power back to fill the void of Jordan Howard. I’d bring LeSean back, but I’d also bring in a power back like AJ Dillon in the draft.

Spencer Ware: A guy that seemed to be a future Eagle for years since Doug Pederson was hired. Ware is what you call a running back by committee type of guy. He’s still only 28 coming off a season where he barely had a workload. I think about bringing him in to compete for a backup job.

Devonta Freeman: There are most definitely worse options out there. Would think the Eagles view Miles Sanders as the lead back but also realize that they have never had an offense where they had a clear number one running back. They traded a third-round pick for 14 games of Jay Ajayi. The also only started Jay in 4 games… Think about it, the Eagles love to piss us off with the way they handle the running back situation. Seems like a lock they will piss us off with the way they handle a talent like Miles Sanders.